


The Double Single

by incapricious



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Americanisms, College, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-05
Updated: 2011-07-05
Packaged: 2017-10-21 01:21:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/219328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/incapricious/pseuds/incapricious
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur was supposed to have a single, but instead he has Merlin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Double Single

**Author's Note:**

> Written for klynnaec_001. Go Team Greed! :D
> 
> This is a modern AU set in a generic American university setting, so Americanisms intentional, since my rendition of a British University would have been even less accurate.

There are two names on the door. _Two names_. And inside, there is a battered suitcase that is distinctly _not_ Arthur's.

Arthur has his phone out and is waiting for his father to answer when the door opens, nearly hitting him in the face. He jumps out of the way with a strangled yell and then hangs up. He should be able to handle this on his own, after all.

"Oh, sorry," says the intruder from behind a pile of boxes, having wisely decided that being able to see in front of him wasn't necessary when carrying unstably-stacked heavy objects.

Great, he not only has a roommate, he has an idiot roommate.

"Who the hell are you, and what are you doing in my room?"

"Um. This is my room. Isn't this 221? I mean it must be... it says so on the door. My name is there too, with a little smiley face next to it." He turns and deposits the boxes onto a nearby desk, then nods in approval at them, even though they still look like they are moments from toppling over, and turns to extend his hand. "Hi, I'm Merlin. You must be Arthur."

Arthur takes in the messy black hair, a black leather wristband and threadbare black t-shirt and then rolls his eyes. He shakes Merlin's hand grudgingly, even though he doesn't want to. But it's not really Merlin's fault that the Housing Department is staffed by a bunch of fuck-ups. "I was supposed to have a single," he says.

Merlin grins. His mouth is gorgeous. This is going to be a problem. "You wish. I heard freshmen never get singles."

"I'm not a _freshman_. Wait. You're a freshman?" Arthur asks, and when Merlin nods, Arthur groans. "For fuck's sake. I'm a senior. I can't have a freshman as a roommate. I'm going to kill someone. This was supposed to be a single. I picked it out myself in last year's draw."

"I was wondering why the top bunk didn't even have a mattress," Merlin says, looking around the room, which is really too small for two people, especially when one of them is Arthur and the other one is some sort of lanky emo creature who probably listens to whiny alternative music and takes drugs every night.

"I'm captain of the lacrosse team," Arthur says. "Just so you know, I won't allow any drug use in my room."

Merlin laughs as though Arthur has said something funny. "No worries there, I'm pretty straight-edge."

"Okay. Good. Well, it won't matter anyway, because I'm sure once I have a talk with housing, we'll find out you're supposed to be in a different room." Preferably a different floor, or even a different building.

\--

Arthur is angry. His father is angry and has made his displeasure known to the president of the university. And yet, Merlin is still in Arthur's room, and will be, apparently, for quite some time -- probably the whole semester. When Arthur returns, fuming, Merlin is standing on a chair, hanging a poster of a dragon up on the wall. His t-shirt is riding up, showing an arc of pale skin. Arthur swallows and looks away.

"How did it go?" Merlin asks, admiring his handiwork.

"Your poster is crooked," snarls Arthur. "Terrific! Everything is _terrific_. Hawkwing House is infested by bedbugs and termites and probably radioactive rats as well. Which means there's a housing shortage, which means no singles for anyone."

"Including the captain of the lacrosse team?"

Arthur glares at Merlin, who seems amused by the entire debacle. What would he know? He's a _freshman_. "Yes."

"Did you tell them we need another mattress?"

"I did. They said they'll _work on it_ but we probably won't get one until tomorrow."

"Oh. That's... good?"

"Which means you're sleeping on the floor tonight."

Merlin finally stops smiling.

\--

It's two in the morning when Arthur wakes up to find Merlin trying to crawl into bed with him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he whispers.

"The carpet smells like feet," Merlin says. "And I don't think there's any padding underneath -- it feels like lying on concrete. And I think they put nails in the concrete, just for fun. Please, can I just--?"

Part of Arthur would like nothing more than to let Merlin into his bed, but the rest of him knows that's a bad idea. He has to focus on lacrosse and on his studies. He's going to start applying to business schools soon, and the last thing he needs is to end up fucking his roommate, who is probably only eighteen. God, Arthur hopes he's at least eighteen. It can only end in drama, and Arthur has sworn that he is done with drama.

Merlin has one knee on the bed, and his hand is still holding onto the edge of the blanket. It's too dark to see his face, but Arthur is sure he is giving Arthur a plaintive look. Dammit. There's no other option. He's got to bring out the big gun.

"You're welcome to, but you should know I'm gay," Arthur says casually, moving over to one side. He waits for Merlin to back away and start making excuses about how actually, he really shouldn't bother Arthur and maybe the carpet isn't so bad. Straight boys are so predictable, Arthur has found.

But instead, Merlin slides into bed next to Arthur, practically cuddling up to him, and says quietly, "Oh, so at least we've got one thing in common."

Arthur rolls over to face the wall, and softly bangs his head against it.

\--

The mattress doesn't show up the next day, or the day after that. Arthur spends most of his time at practice, or in the library. Merlin is usually asleep when Arthur leaves for the day, so they only see each other for a few hours in the evening. It's acceptable.

When Arthur returns to his room after the third day of classes, Merlin is sitting at the desk, hunched over a large textbook.

"So, what classes are you taking this semester?" Arthur asks, flopping down onto his bed. The coach ran them hard all afternoon, and then Arthur spent four hours doing a vector calculus problem set. He is exhausted.

"Oh, um... organic chemistry, plus lab; intro to philosophy; conversational Latin; and statistics."

Arthur sits up a little, leaning on his elbows. "What the hell are you planning on majoring in?"

Merlin shrugs. "I dunno. I thought I'd take a little of everything and see what I like."

" _Conversational Latin_? Who exactly are you going to be conversing with in Latin?"

"Well... you never know when you'll find yourself accidentally traveling back in time to ancient Rome and needing to, you know, ask for directions to the Coliseum."

Arthur barks out a laugh. "You're very strange." Merlin's face tightens a little, but then Arthur adds, "Why would you want to go to the Coliseum? If I were in ancient Rome, I'd head straight for the bathhouses. That's where all the networking happens. Plus, of course, naked men and lots of soap." Merlin grins, and Arthur feels his heart flutter a little. He lies back down and puts the pillow over his head.

That night, Merlin puts his hand on Arthur's back. "Are you awake?" he whispers.

Arthur doesn't answer at first; he doesn't want to know why Merlin is asking, or why Merlin is touching him, his hand burning right through the fabric of Arthur's shirt. But then his curiosity gets the better of him. "Yeah."

"I just wanted to say... thanks. For letting me stay in your room."

"It's your room too."

"Only until the bedbugs are all eradicated. Then I'll probably get moved to a quad with three future frat boys who spend all day drinking beer and talking about hot chicks."

Arthur rolls over to face Merlin. Merlin moves his hand to rest in between them. "You could stay here, if you want, even if another place opens up. I... I mean I don't actually mind. It's kind of nice to have someone to talk to, other than the guys on the team. Most of my friends were older and have all graduated by now, so..." Arthur shrugs. "Unless you'd prefer the frat boys."

Even in the dark, Arthur can see Merlin's smile. "No, I'd like that."

"Okay, good. I mean, sure, no problem," Arthur says, and then rolls back to face the wall. What the hell is wrong with him?

\--

It takes about three weeks before Arthur begins to regret his late-night benevolence. The exact moment, in fact, is 10:05pm on the eighteenth day of the semester, when Arthur walks in to find Merlin getting his cock sucked on Arthur's bed.

Fine, technically it's Merlin's bed too, since the second mattress never showed up, and neither of them ever bothered to pursue the matter. Arthur assumed that was because Merlin was enjoying their nights together as well, with the brief moments of physical contact, the hours of shared body heat, the torture of wanting more and knowing you can't have it.

Well, perhaps "enjoying" was the wrong world.

But apparently Merlin wasn't feeling that way at all, because if he was, he wouldn't be getting head from some random guy, he would be getting head from Arthur.

No, that's not what would be happening. He wouldn't be getting head from Arthur either, but he would want to so much that he wouldn't want it from anyone else.

Arthur has been standing there for far too long; he has to do something.

"Get the hell out of my room!" he yells over the loud, obnoxious music (playing from _his_ laptop). Merlin's eyes snap open, and when he sees Arthur his eyes go wide, and then his face contorts, and for a second Arthur thinks Merlin is crying or upset but then he notices the shuddering and realizes that no, Merlin is coming. He's coming in some stranger's mouth, on _their_ bed, while Arthur is watching, and oh God, that is so hot, and also, he is way too invested in something that's not even a relationship, just a temporary housing problem.

"No drama, remember, Pendragon?" he mutters to himself, and turns and walks back out the door, slamming it behind him.

Arthur spends the next hour pacing back and forth on the quad, barefoot, feeling the cool grass between his toes and the rough bricks on his soles. He ignores the curious stares of students returning to their dorms, as well as the incessant buzzing of his mobile in his pocket.

He spends the hour after that lying on one of the benches, watching the stars as they are obscured by clouds.

Then it starts to rain, so he goes back inside.

When he opens the door to his room, it's quiet, and Merlin is sitting on the bed, alone and fully clothed, hair wet as if he's just showered.

"Arthur, I've been--" he says, jumping up and knocking his head hard against the top bunk. "Ow, fuck!" He sits back down, cradling his head in his hand.

"Are you all right?" Arthur asks, hurrying over. "You idiot, just because there's no mattress on the top bunk doesn't mean the top bunk ceases to exist."

"I'm okay. I think." He doesn't sound very sure.

"You could have a concussion."

"You can't get a concussion from a bunk bed."

"You can get a concussion from anything if you hit your head on it hard enough!"

Merlin is quiet for a moment. "Not a pillow. Or a balloon. Or a giant ball of yarn. Or--"

"Fine," says Arthur, pushing at Merlin's shoulder and sitting down next to him. "Not anything. But definitely a solid piece of wood. Or rather, particle board with ugly fake-oak veneer. Do you need ice or... something?"

"No. I just need to sleep, I'll be fine."

"You shouldn't sleep, that's... well that's pretty much all I know about head injuries, that you shouldn't sleep."

"Why not? That doesn't make any sense."

"I don't know! Otherwise maybe you... lapse into a coma or something. I took a few bad hits to the head in high school--"

"That explains everything..."

"Shut up. It's just I remember the doctor telling my parents to keep me awake for a few hours afterward, and to keep me talking."

"But it's after midnight, and my Latin class is at eight."

"Fine, one hour. Then you can sleep. And you could blow off your Latin class. I haven't seen any wormholes lurking about campus lately."

"Ha. Okay." Merlin sits lets go of his head and sits up a little straighter. "Augh, that hurts."

Arthur turns on the bedside light that's clipped to the bedpost and twists it until it's shining on Merlin. He leans in, touching Merlin's wet hair, feeling for a bump under the skin. "I think you'll live," he says. Merlin looks over and squints against the light.

"I feel like I'm being interrogated by the police or something."

"Does that happen often?" Arthur asks after turning the light off again.

"No," says Merlin, scowling. "Well, only once, and it was a complete misunderstanding. I was cleared of all charges. It was my friend Will's fault. And the cow's fault."

"Cow?"

"It's a long story."

"Well, what else are we going to talk about?" Arthur asks, and regrets the question as soon as it's out of his mouth. He knows what Merlin is going to say.

Merlin sighs and looks down at his feet. "Um. Well... I wanted to say: I'm sorry, about earlier. I, um, didn't think you'd be back until eleven, since you have that econ paper due tomorrow."

Arthur is about to mutter something noncommittal, but then he considers the implications of Merlin knowing his schedule in that much detail. "I finished that yesterday, and wait a minute, do you do this often? Do you schedule your _trysts_ around my studying? This is _my_ bed, you can't just--"

"No, no! Trysts, seriously? No. This was the first time. I know I shouldn't have. I was going to go to his place, but he said his roommate isn't so cool about the whole gay thing."

"Then his roommate's an asshole. Anyway, do you not know about the basement of the Browne Library? As far as I know, the only reason anyone ever goes there is to have sex. Well, probably grad students go there for research, but they hardly count."

"I... seem to have missed that part of the orientation lecture, actually," Merlin says. "So... you don't mind? I mean, as long as it doesn't happen in here?"

Arthur remembers how he felt, but that was two hours ago. He's over it now. He's certainly not going to go pining after a freshman who has no interest in him, that would be pathetic. "Why on Earth would I care? You can get your cock sucked by the entire student body, just not on my bed. Or floor. Or desk. Okay, anywhere in this room."

"Right. Okay." Merlin shifts a little. "It's just... and this is probably really stupid of me to say, but I can always blame it on brain trauma, right? It's just I thought maybe you... liked me."

Arthur really wants to get up and run away, but if he did, he would probably come back to find Merlin dead from brain swelling, and everyone would blame him, Arthur included. "No, I don't. Maybe. Whatever! It doesn't matter whether I like you or not."

"Why not?"

"Because we're roommates."

"So?"

"And you're a freshman."

"I'm nineteen years old, it's not like I'm--?"

"Nineteen? Really?"

"Yeah I was sick for a year, I had to repeat tenth grade. But don't change the subject."

"I'm not, you're the one who said--"

"Oh!" Merlin says, grinning. "You were worried I was underage."

"I wasn't worried, I just--" Arthur says, and then Merlin leans over and kisses him, once, on the mouth.

"You have no idea how much I want you, Arthur," Merlin says in a low, soft voice, his face very close to Arthur's. "It's killing me. You're really fucking hot, and kind, and smart, and..."

"Go on," Arthur says.

"Well, there's only so much I can do with my hand and fingers and I got really desperate, I just needed someone to touch me. And I was at a party and that guy -- I don't even know his name, I think it was Edgar or Edwin or something? -- he hit on me and I thought why not? It's not like I have any chance with Arthur. I mean, I thought I did, at first, the way you looked at me, but then nothing happened, and I thought maybe that's just how you looked at people. Maybe you have intense eyes. It was funny, actually, to imagine people at the grocery store thinking you wanted to fuck them when you just wanted to know which aisle the milk was on."

"Merlin. You're babbling."

"That's because I'm nervous. I kissed you, and you're just sitting there letting me talk, and--"

In an ideal world, Arthur knew he would gently explain to Merlin why it was a bad idea to become sexually and/or romantically involved with one's roommate. He would regale him with stories from his previous years here, when even having a boyfriend in the same dorm turned into a storm of shouting and blaming and throwing things out of third story windows.

But this is far from an ideal world, and Arthur can't remember ever wanting to kiss someone more than he does right now. So he leans forward and kisses Merlin. He kisses Merlin until his mouth opens, and his tongue can work its way in. Then he puts his hand in Merlin's hair, pulls him closer, and pushes him down onto the bed. Gently, though. After all, he might have a concussion.

\--

The next morning, Arthur wakes up with a smile on his face. Merlin is sleeping next to him, their limbs tangled together. In the light of day, Arthur can see a small purple bump on Merlin's forehead, right at his hairline. Arthur leans over and kisses it. Merlin mutters and rolls over, pulling the blanket over his head.

Arthur has almost drifted back to sleep again when there is a knock at the door. He gets up, pulls on some shorts and a t-shirt, and tiptoes over to answer it.

At the door is a man, and next to the man is a mattress wrapped in plastic. "Got yer extra mattress for ya," the man says, looking down at his clipboard.

"Oh. There must be some sort of mistake," Arthur says, making his best serious face. "Someone already brought us one last week."

"It says here--"

"I'm sure it does," Arthur says firmly, "but it's a small room, and there's really no space for another mattress. We have exactly as many as we need."

The man sighs and looks at his clipboard. "I guess I'll take this over to Broward, then."

"You do that," says Arthur with a smile. Then he closes the door, and gets back into bed, pulling Merlin close to him.


End file.
